On Friday, July 19, 2024, there was a global cyber crisis that affected a wide range of industries, including air transport, media, financial institutions, banks, state institutions, telecommunications plus many other industries. Nor the Paris Olympic Games
Undoubtedly, this is the world's largest crisis generated by an IT problem, which appeared on Windows operating systems, and the damage is very difficult to estimate. Airlines in the United States, Asia, Australia and Europe have canceled flights, media companies have remained with computers and blocked platforms, government institutions in which many systems are no longer functional, hospitals, factories and many other industries.
Why did this global cyber crisis appear?
Following a security update made by Crowdstrike for Microsoft, Windows operating systems began to display “Blue Screen of Death”, being impossible to use.
At the base of the problem is the blocking of Microsoft's cloud servers, which are used on a global scale by numerous companies and institutions. Basically, global systems that are interconnected and use Microsoft services, have non -functional applications and platforms. For example, at airports, airlines can no longer scan tickets to boarding and can no longer check-in due to server blocking. Also, there are no more functional applications based on Microsoft's cloud services.
Millions of Windows users around the world are experiencing the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error, which causes the system to close or restart. Microsoft has transmitted in a message that the error is caused by a recent Crowdstrike update.
Apparently, this problem from the Crowdstrike update has generated others, at several Microsoft services. There are many customers who have problems with multiple Azure services in the central region of the United States and Europe, while Microsoft is investigating a problem that affects various Microsoft 365 applications and services.
CEO Crowdstrike, George Kurtz, said the IT issue that caused a global interruption was identified and that a solution was implemented.
Kurtz said that the cyber security company works with "customers affected by a defect found in a single content update for Windows" and that the problem "is not a security incident or a cyber attack."
Here is the full statement:
“Crowdstrike is actively working with customers affected by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not affected. This is not a security incident or a cyber attack.
“The problem was identified, isolated and a solution has been implemented.
"We recommend customers to access the support portal for the latest updates and we will continue to offer complete and continuous updates on our site. We also recommend organizations to ensure that it communicates with Crowdstrike representatives through official channels. Our team is completely mobilized to ensure the security and stability of Crowdstrike."
Related: Blue Screen of Death
Even if this global cyber crisis is currently solved by Crowdstrike and Microsoft, it will certainly have consequences in terms of development strategies and architecture of interconnected computer systems, which depend on a single provider. In the past, companies such as Meta, Google or Cloudfla have had problems with the operation of services, which has affected companies around the world.
In conclusion, a security update caused the largest cyber wedge in history. Microsoft said he had remedied the main cause of this global interruption, but the effects of cyber security interruption continue to affect some office 365 applications and services.
“Although the initial problem has been solved, users may still face difficulties in using some platform functionalities. The company works to completely restore all affected services”, is shown in a statement of Microsoft.
